Joseph and the Beasts

The Client

Joseph and the Beasts are a fanf*ckingtastic Baltimore-based indie rock band fronted by multi-instrumentalist Joseph Mulhollen, whose rich vocals, arresting melodies, and pleasingly oblique lyrics have been some of my eardrums’ favorite things since 1998. With bandmates and songwriting collaborators Alex Champagne, Patrick Edwards, and Greg Woodward building on Joseph’s solo work and fleshing out the group’s layered soundscapes, Joseph and the Beasts spent two years touring and honing the collection of songs that would become 2017’s full-length release GOLD LIGHT.

The Work

It was important to the band to release GOLD LIGHT as a vinyl LP, to have the music tied to a physical object with artwork and lyrics that listeners could run their fingers across as the album played. Artist Patience Wyman — one of my all-time favorite collaborators — created an original drawing-collage for the album, which I digitally deconstructed and reconstructed to make the front cover image. Patience’s collage pieces also made their way into the band photo on the back cover which, along with the portraits on the interior sleeve, was taken by photographer Holly Burnham. With the big pieces in place, I worked with the band to arrive at a simple layout using a contemporary typeface with a classic feel (Nanami). I set the type in a golden yellow pulled directly from the collage images and adjusted levels across Holly's photographs to harmonize with the rest of the design, and we had ourselves an LP package.